Variable width wrapper strip guide for sewing machines



M. ROBERTS 2,640,448

STRIP GUIDE FOR SEWING MACHINES June 2, 1953 VARIABLE WIDTH WRAPPERFiled Jan. 6, 1951 VIIIIIIIIIIIAIIA fnvalzlor Mau rice Roberts @ET r44Patented June 2, 1953 ED STATES ATENT OFFICE VARIABLE WIDTH WRAPPERSTRIP GUIDE FOR SEWING MACHINES Maurice Roberts, Leicester, England,,assignor. to

United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemington, N. J., a corporation ofNew Jersey Application January 6, 1951 Serial No. 204,709 In GreatBritain April 5, I950 class. (01.112 52) This invention relates toimprovements in sewing machines for use in the manufacture of shoes,more particularly of platform shoes of the Veldtschoen type, in which .awrapper or cover strip is sewn to the out-turned margin of the upper andplatform sole of the shoe, the Wrapper or cover strip being formed witha variable width to enable it to be'turned down to cover the edges ofthe upper and sole and inwardly beneath the platform sole. However, theinvention is not limited to use with sewing machines merely for,attaching wrappers or sole edge covers butmay be employed toadvantage'in attaching or operating upon any type of strip formed with avariable width along its length.

In the manufacture of shoes of the type referred to a platform cover orwrapper strip may be directed into proper position to be sewn by a guidedefining a slot or passage through which the strip passes. edge of thestrip to occupy a uniform predetermined relation to the needle of thesewing machine which is to sew the strip to the shoe, the passage in theguide is made with thesameoverall width as that of the strip so that thestrip may be directed accurately on its way to the needle.

Where the shoe parts later to be covered by the downturned wrapper stripvary in thickness at different portions along the shoe, for instancewhere the platform sole includes a so-called wedge heel, difiicultiesfrequently are met in guiding the wrapper accurately into sewingposition.

It is a customarypractice, to attach to a Wedgev heeled platform shoe aplatform wrapper strip having a relatively narrow portion approximatelyone half to three-quarters of an inch wide, for sewingaround theiorepart of the shoe and a wider portion, up to2 wide, for sewing aroundthe waist and heelend portions. To attach to a shoe, a variable widthwrapper strip as above indicated, it is at present usual to employ inthe machine a guide which has a passage equal ,in over-all width to thewider portion of the wrapper strip which is to extend around thewaistand heel portions of the shoe. A strip of this uniformly wider dimensionis then sewn to the shoe (for example in the manner disclosed in UnitedStates Letters Patent No. 2,611,142, granted September 23, 1952, uponapplication of James and Ricks) around the'forepart of the shoe as wellas around the Waist and heel portions; The strip is then trimmed offaround the iorepa-rt to provide the reduced width suitable to the thick-Since it is important for one ness of the platform and upper only. suchlucedure is wasteful, both intim-e and material.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide simpl and convenientmeans whereby the sewing to a shoe ,of the Veldtschoen type of a pre-cutvariable width platform wrapper strip may be facilitated W c.

In the illustrative embodiment hereinafter described. a stitchingmachine. suitable for use on an outflanged portion of a shoe uppermounted on a last and a platform soleor like member, the machine alsoincorporatingmeans for tensioning the upper to pull itsnugly down tothelast as the stitching operation proceeds, includes a platform wrapperstrip guidehaving a passage adjustable 'in width to correspond with themaximum width of a strip around the thicker waist and heel portion of awedge heeled shoe, and aa displaceable finger which extends transverselyacross the passage to divide it into two portions, the smaller one ofwhich is reduced to the minimum width of the strip. The mountingarrangeement for the finger on themachine is such that the finger isautomatically deflected at right angles to the width of the guidepassage out of the passage when the maximum width portion of the stripreaches the guide, the wider portion :of the passage being ntilized'todirect said'maximum width portion.

Examples of a stitching machine suitable for use in sewing together theplatform cover, upper and sole are disclosed in United States LettersPatent No. 1,198,405 granted September 19,1916, upon application ofArthur "Bates and v No. 1,996,103 granted April 2, 1935, uponapplication of Harold E. Elliott et al. v These and other features oftheinvention; as hereinafter described and claimed will be apparent fromthe iollow-in g detailed specification taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings'in which, I v Fig. 1 'isa sectionalview on anenlarged scale of those parts of a sewingmachine embodying the featuresof the invention, surrounding the sewing point and including thefnovelplatform wrapper strip guide and a portion of a shoe in thepr'oce'ss ofbeing sewn; I, p

Fig. 2 is a detail viewo'f the lower portiono'f the guide, illustratedsection taken along a plane crossing the passage in the guide;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along a plane intersecting the lowerportion of the guide showing the position of a di'splaceable finger inthe 5 guide were operating upon a width portion of a wrapper strip; and

Fig. 4 is a similar view of the guide showing the displaceable finger ina position with the maX- imum width portion of the wrapper strip beingoperated upon.

The illustrated machine is a lockstitch shoe sewing machine having uppertensioning means of the type disclosed in the Bates patent but improvedby the addition of platform sole severing devices disclosed in the Jamesand Ricks patent, above identified. The machine of the James and Rickspatent is intended to last and sew a stitchdown shoe and simultaneouslyto trim a marginal portion of the platform sole in the shoe so that thestitches of a seam will be inserted in the upper, sock lining or midsoleand one edge only of a platform wrapper strip, the platform sole beingleft unsewn. To direct the platform wrapper strip into the machine ofthe James and Ricks patent a guide is provided having an elongatedpassage of a width corresponding to the width of a wrapper strip.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the illustrated machine isprovided with a curved hook needle 6, a curved awl 8 and other stitchforming devices. The marginal portions of a shoe intended to be operatedupon are shown in operating position and include a platform sole l0, asock lining l2 and an upper i4 mounted upon a last l6. Also guided intothe seam inserted by the machine is the rearwardly bent angular flangeof a wrapper strip I8.

To maintain the shoe parts in operating position the machine has a worksupport 28 alon the work engaging surface of which the angular flange ofthe wrapper strip is engaged and a presser foot including a block 22having a horizontal fin 24 comprising its work engaging portion spacedfrom the main body of the block to provide above it a recess into whichthe marginal portion of the platform sole H3 is guided. To trim themarginal portion of the platform sole the block 22 has clamped to it avertical trimming knife 26 the lower end of which is engaged and guardedby the fin 26. The upper tensioning means comprises a pair ofhorizontally reciprocating lasting grippers 28 acting to draw theprojecting marginal portion of the upper along the work engaging surfaceof the work support and thereby indirectly to force the angular flangeportion of the wrapper strip rearwardly of the machine into engagementwith a guide shoulder 30 formed on the work support. The manner ofoperation of the operating devices and their actuating mechanisms thusfar described are more completely disclosed in the patents abovereferred to.

In sewing a shoe intended to have a wedge heel of substantial thicknesssubsequently attached to it, it has been the practice to employ aplatform wrapper strip of a width suflicient to cover the edges of boththe platform sole and the wedge heel. Such strip is of uniform maximumwidth required in the construction of the shoe and since a narrowerwidth is needed alon the forepart of the shoe to cover the sole edgealone, the excess is trimmed off and the trimmed excess discarded. As aresult much wastage of valuable wrapper strip material occurs indiscarding the trimmed portion.

The present wrapper strip guide is constructed to direct accurately awrapper strip is formed with a variable width, the maximum width portionof which is sulficient to cover both the wedge heel and the platformsole edges and the minimum width portion of which is sufficient to cover4 the platform sole edge so that no trimming is required after sewingthe shoe. Accordingly, a wrapper strip may be cut from stock in a mannerto economize the use of the stock without the necessity of wastefultrimming.

To direct a variable width wrapper strip ef fectively the improved stripguide is provided with means for preventing displacement of the striplaterally when either the maximum or minimum width portions are beingoperated upon. The illustrated wrapper strip guide is made of sheetmetal side plates 32 and 34 disposed in parallel relation and havingsections bent through relatively abrupt curvatures at their upper endswhere they are joined to an end attachment block 36. The plates 32-34form between them an elongated passage or slot 38 having its mainportion extending downwardly and its upper portion bent into anapproximately horizontal plane slightly below the plane of the workengaging surface on the work support. The attachment block 36 is clampedto a bearing about which the awl 8 oscillates and reciprocates in theline of feed so that the guide moves along the line of feed with the awlduring the feeding movements of the shoe being sewn. The rear plate 32of the guide acts to mold and maintain one margin of the wrapper stripin an angular flange formation overlying the work 611- gaging surface ofthe work support. At its juncture with the rear plate the block 36 has asurface to direct the margin of the platform wrapper accurately intosewing position on the work support before engagement by the needle andawl, as the operation of the lasting grippers progresses.

To insure accurate guiding action on both edges of the wrapper stripwhile sewing the minimum width portion of the strip, according to animportant feature of the present invention, the width of the passage 38in the guide is reduced by a displaceable finger 40 passin across theguide. The finger has an integral yielding mounting movable on one ofthe plates at right angles thereto. The finger is in the form of arounded right angle end on a fiat leaf spring 12 comprising the mountingwhich is secured to the forward plate 34 by a clamp screw 44 passingthrough the plate 3 1 and having its end engaging a threaded opening inthe plate 32. The finger as best shown in Figs. 3 and 4 has a curved orinclined edge at its rounded end which, when the wider portion of theplatform wrapper strip reaches the guide, is engaged by that portion andis wedged by the strip and moved outwardly of the guide by the strip ina direction at right angles to the width of the guide passage and theplanes of the plates to displace the finger from the passage 38. As soonas the wider maximum Width portion of the wrapper strip displaces thefinger the entire wider portion of the passage is effective in guidingthe wrapper strip.

To guide the maximum width portion of the wrapper strip and to providemeans for adjusting the guide accurately with relation to the wrapperstrip employed, the lower end of the guide passage is provided with anadjustable block 46 clamped between the plates 32 and 3 For this purposethe block it is slotted to receive the clamp screw Ml which whentightened simultaneously secures the spring 42 and the block in fixedpositions along the guide. To prevent angular displacement of the blockin the guide the block has a rib 'lg engaging one edge of the rear plateextended substantially the full length of the block.

To enable adjustments to be made in the lower edge guiding block 46 andin the displaceable fin er 4Q 1 11. plfilt is 32 and 34 of the guide areformed with openings 5!) through which the finger 4.0 passes. Theseopenings are ofsufiicient size to accommodate essential adjustingmovement of the block 16 along the passage 38 in the gui e.- In use theguide hereinbefore described will occupy the same general relationshipin the machine as the guide referred to in the above identified Jamesand Ricks patent. A sufi'icient length of the platform wrapper of theminimum width, for example of approximately inch, is inserted in theguide. The length of the minimum width portion of wrapper strip employedshould be sufficient to extend around the forepart of a shoe to beoperated upon. The minimum width portion of wrapper strip has united toit, a portion of maximum width sufiicient in length to extend around thewaist and heel portions of a shoe and to cover a wedge heel afterinsertion in the shoe, one each of the edges of the portions beingalined.

In operating upon one shoe of a pair the narrower portion of wrapperstrip first is inserted in the guide and the operation is started at theforepart of the shoe and continued until the opposite side of theforepart is approached. When the opposite side of the forepart isreached, that portion of the wider maximum width wrapper which projectsbeyond the minimum width portion of the wrapper will engage the fingerll] and displace it automatically outwardly of the passage in the guide.Thus, it is possible to sew a wrapper strip of variable width having twoportions of distinctly different width, one width of which extends andis guided along the finger 40, the other of which extends along and isguided by the block 36, and both of which are accurately directed alongtheir alined edges into the seam. The changeover from one width alongthe strip to the other is efiective without attention on the part of theoperator and without requiring interruption in progress of the sewingoperation.

In sewing a platform wrapper strip to the other one of a pair of shoesthe operation will be started with the maximum width portion of thewrapper first inserted in the full width of the guide beneath the fingerand as the operation is continued the narrower minimum width portionwill be directed by the finger. For assisting the operator wheninserting the maximum width portion of wrapper strip the finger 40 hasattached to it a raised lip 52 beneath which a fingernail may beprojected for withdrawing the finger 40 from the passage in the guide.After inserting the maximum width portion of the wrapper strip duringthis manner of sewing, the narrower minimum width portion of the stripreaches the guide and the finger 40. The spring 42 then presses thefinger rearwardly to reduce the width of the the passage to the properextent for effectively guiding the narrower width portion of the strip.

The nature and scope of the invention having been indicated and theparticular embodiment having been described what i claimed is;

1. A shoe sewing machine having a needle and other stitch formingdevices, a work support, a presser foot and a variable width wrapperstrip guide located in advance of the point of operation of the sttichforming devices and formed with a passage of a widthequalito that of themaxi-mum width portion of the wrapper strip, combination with adisplaceable finger mouhted for movement at right angles to the width ofthe guide passage for reducing during operation ef the machine the sizeof passage in the guide from the maximum to the minimum width of thewrapper strip.

'2. A shoe sewing machine having a needle and other stitch formingdevices, a work support, a presser foot and a variable width wrapperstrip uide located in advance of the point of operation of the stitchforming devices and formed with an elongated passage for the wrapperstrip, in combination with a rounded displaceable finger mounted formovement in the guide passage for reducing the size of passage in theguide from the maximum to the minimum width of the wrapper strip and ayielding mounting on which the finger is movable at right angles to thewidth of the guide passage during operation of the machine to enable theWrapper strip to engage the rounded contour of the finger and to wedgethe finger outwardly as it enters beneath the finger into the widerportion of the guide passage.

3. A shoe sewing machine having a needle and other stitch formingdevices, a work support, a presser foot and a variable width wrapperstrip guide located in advance of the point of operation of the stitchforming devices and formed with side plates having an elongated passagebetween them for the wrapper strip, in combination with a roundeddisplaceable finger acting in the guide passage for reducing the size ofpassage in the guide from the maximum to the minimum width of thevariable width wrapper, an integral yielding mounting for thedisplaceable finger movable at right angles to the side plates to enablethe wrapper strip to engage the rounded contour of the finger and towedge the finger outwardly of the passage as the strip enters beneaththe finger and is led into the wider portion of the guide passage andmeans for adjusting the maximum size of the passage in the wrapper guideincluding a slotted block between the side plates and a clamp screwpassing through the slotted block, the side plates and the yieldingmounting for the finger, arranged to secure the yielding mounting andthe block simultaneously in fixed positions.

4. A shoe sewing machine having a needle and other stitch formingdevices, a work support, a presser foot and a variable width wrapperstrip guide located in advance of the point of operation of the stitchforming devices and formed with side plates having an elongated passagebetween them for the wrapper strip, in combination with a roundeddisplaceable finger acting in the guide for reducing the size of passagein the guide from the maximum to the minimum width of the wrapper strip,a yielding mounting for the displaceable finger, said finger beingmovable at right angles to the side plates to enable the per strip.

5. A shoe sewing machine having a needle and other stitch formingdevices, a work support, a

7 in advance of the point of operation of the stitch forming devices andformed with side plates having an elongated passage between them andbent sections at one end of the passage to mold one edge of the wrapperstrip into an angular flange overlying the work engaging surface of thework support, in combination with a displaceable finger movable at rightangles to the plates for reducing the size of passage in the guide fromthe maximum to the minimum width of the wrapper strip during operationof the machine and an adjustable end block in said guide to cause theangular flange of the wrapper strip to be maintained uniformly inposition on the work support as the operation of the upper tensioningmeans progresses.

MAURICE ROBERTS.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 10Number Name Date 614,938 Duplessia Nov. 29, 1898 886,025 Wilson Apr. 28,1908

